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Stephanie Gombar September 18, 2005
Absolutism essay Mrs. Gorman per. 1
Absolutism is when a king or queen has total power over everything. Absolutism occurred in Europe during the sixteenth seventeenth and eighteenth centuries because kings thought there rule came from god. The divine right theory is when a person, or king believes they got the right to rule directly from god, this is very similar to the Chinese mandate of heaven. Absolute rulers all over Europe increased there power, affected their people greatly by their policies and left a big impact on there countries.
Absolute rulers did some drastic things to gain power for themselves. For example Philip the second of Spain took one fourth of all of the gold, that was mined in the American colonies, for himself. Philip II also created an army of 50,000. King Louis XIV of France gained power by taxing his people and taking their money for himself. With all of his money he built a beautiful extravagant palace in Versailles. Peter the great of Russia made a navy, and westernized Russia. Peter the great reduced the power of the nobles and moved the capital of Russia to St. Petersburg.
Because absolute rulers can do whatever they want their policies can negatively or positively affect the people in their countries. Phillip II defeated the ottomans at Lepants, and brought a golden age to Spain, but he also destroyed Spain too. The inflation and taxation of lower classes caused there to be no middle class. The Spanish armada was defeated by the British, making the Spanish people unhappy. By the end of Phillip II’s rule Spain was also bankrupt.Louis XIV also heavily taxed the people, but Louis XIV was a patron of the arts and in turn many people of other countries wanted to emulate the French. Louis XIV involved France in twenty years of war and their economy got worse. Cultivation was bad. Most powerful countries united against France. In Russia, Peter the Great tried to completely change the Russian way of life; to be more like Western Europe. Peter imposed western styled clothing on the people and men were taxed if they wished to keep their beards. The Russian people were most likely resentful to changing their entire image. Peter the Great also changed Russia’s calendar to match Western Europe’s calendar. The Russians were not happy with this.
Phillip II, Louis XIV and Peter the Great did a lot of damage to their countries during their reign. Phillip II left Spain bankrupt. Louis XIV involved France in long wars and created enemies for France. Peter the Great who was more like Ivan the Terrible, involved Russia in war, killed many people in trying to build St Petersburg and changed the Russian way of life.
Some absolute rulers devastated their countries and others didn’t do as much harm but their reign changed their countries either negatively or positively. Absolute rulers all over Europe increased there power, affected their people greatly by their policies and left a big impact on there countries.
Absolutism essay Mrs. Gorman per. 1
Absolutism is when a king or queen has total power over everything. Absolutism occurred in Europe during the sixteenth seventeenth and eighteenth centuries because kings thought there rule came from god. The divine right theory is when a person, or king believes they got the right to rule directly from god, this is very similar to the Chinese mandate of heaven. Absolute rulers all over Europe increased there power, affected their people greatly by their policies and left a big impact on there countries.
Absolute rulers did some drastic things to gain power for themselves. For example Philip the second of Spain took one fourth of all of the gold, that was mined in the American colonies, for himself. Philip II also created an army of 50,000. King Louis XIV of France gained power by taxing his people and taking their money for himself. With all of his money he built a beautiful extravagant palace in Versailles. Peter the great of Russia made a navy, and westernized Russia. Peter the great reduced the power of the nobles and moved the capital of Russia to St. Petersburg.
Because absolute rulers can do whatever they want their policies can negatively or positively affect the people in their countries. Phillip II defeated the ottomans at Lepants, and brought a golden age to Spain, but he also destroyed Spain too. The inflation and taxation of lower classes caused there to be no middle class. The Spanish armada was defeated by the British, making the Spanish people unhappy. By the end of Phillip II’s rule Spain was also bankrupt.Louis XIV also heavily taxed the people, but Louis XIV was a patron of the arts and in turn many people of other countries wanted to emulate the French. Louis XIV involved France in twenty years of war and their economy got worse. Cultivation was bad. Most powerful countries united against France. In Russia, Peter the Great tried to completely change the Russian way of life; to be more like Western Europe. Peter imposed western styled clothing on the people and men were taxed if they wished to keep their beards. The Russian people were most likely resentful to changing their entire image. Peter the Great also changed Russia’s calendar to match Western Europe’s calendar. The Russians were not happy with this.
Phillip II, Louis XIV and Peter the Great did a lot of damage to their countries during their reign. Phillip II left Spain bankrupt. Louis XIV involved France in long wars and created enemies for France. Peter the Great who was more like Ivan the Terrible, involved Russia in war, killed many people in trying to build St Petersburg and changed the Russian way of life.
Some absolute rulers devastated their countries and others didn’t do as much harm but their reign changed their countries either negatively or positively. Absolute rulers all over Europe increased there power, affected their people greatly by their policies and left a big impact on there countries.